COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
Cascade Blackberry Ale spends over 6 months of lactic fermentaion and aging in small oak barrels. This "Belgian Flanders Style Red Ale" is refermented with fresh whole Northwest Blackberries and then hand bottled. Cascade Blackberry Ale is bottle fermented and should be refrigerated or stored at cellar temp and served at 45-50 degrees.

Pours deep wine red. Nice tart flavors, dry rather than sour, relatively subdued overall taste profile (quite mellow for a sour) with a dry blackberry essence emerging and dominating as the palate adjusts. Appropriate carbonation level, entirely enjoyable. As always, the price point is the problem. At $20, does it compete with the comparably priced Belgian entries? Maybe it’s close to some of them. But it’s certainly no slam dunk.

About time I entered this. 750ml from the brewery. Big and lively pour, with strong bottle-conditioning leadaing to a giant froth. Color looks like fresh blackberries, on the slightly dusky side. Sharp dry aroma, with a touch of acidity that’s complemented by the oak. The carbonation almost intrudes a bit too much on the palate. I’m not sure I’d recognize this as a Flanders had I not read the commercial description. It’s more like a decent sour that recalls Cassisona, enjoyable for what it is but not really up to bar with Cascade’s other sours to me.

750 ml bottle courtesy of DuffmanSW. Thanks, Sean! Poured into a narrower fluted tulip. Pours an opaque murky rusty berry color, tinted with deep crimson hues, purple, and a sort of brown. Almost a dark pinot, but hazier, darker, more opaque, with a dirty whitish reddish head that is moderate, dies to a small film and laces a bit. Aromas are sweet blackberries, a touch of lactic sourness, slight vinegar, wet oakiness is smaller, but there. A touch of faint vanilla, a light sour and sweet mix. Initial is lighter bodied, a bit blank up front, moving into tart blackberries, with some subtle sweetness lying beneath. Berries, faint vinegar, vanilla on the backend, wet wood, lactic sourness is light, but heavier in some sips. Berries stick to the palate in the aftertaste, as some light tannins make their way in on the backend. A bit underbodied, and sips seem to vary on intensity of flavors (Not sure if this is a strength of weakness). Overall, I like the idea of the brew, a good mesh of sweetness and sourness, that is quite sessionable. However, the shortcomings on this beer’s complexity are there (A bit underbodied, inconsistent, could use a touch more sourness), but can be overlooked for a quality sessionable sour like this. Very nice. I can see why ratings that did not get a proper pour (And serving size) might be lacking for this beer. Try and get a good 12 oz. to get a full feel, and not just from the top of the bottle.

Odd color pour, if you’ve ever seen a black guy with a black eye, it looks like that. Tons of active carbonation and a big head.
Nose was of unripe berries, figs, and yeasty esters.
Taste was tough to gauge. Too carbonated, obvious blackberry up front, very slight sourness, almost a bretty feel and taste.

Bottle at Toronado. Why is the label so similar to Speedway Stout’s? Someone is ripping someone off. The beer is not similar though. Dark purplish-brown color with a lasting off-white head. Aroma of blackberry, oak, and chocolate. Flavor lots of blackberry and other dark fruits, oak, and pickles. A slight sweet character moderates the tartness, which is not too extreme. Pretty good overall.

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